Follow the Lady
by Division-Six
Summary: One of Kitsune's scams backfires in a big way
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Love Hina is not owned by me, and I am not making any sort of money since selling fanfiction for cash isn't really a viable source of revenue.

**Follow the Lady**

Prologue:

"Come on guys! Follow the lady now. Follow the lady!" announced Kitsune as deft fingers manipulated the cards set in front of her on the living room table.

For her part, Shinobu was confounded. By the whirling blur of cards. Su wasn't helping much. The moment Shinobu could get a bead on her target, her friend would start bouncing around and laughing maniacally. Motoko, however wasn't interested in the game and her _"The Three Who Get Slashed" _marathon had just started. She still watched them play during commercials, and her face flashed with disapointment and disbelief whenever Kitsune turned the cards face up.

"Rrrright! No! Left! Left!" she sputtered.

"Middle!" Su shouted.

"Sorry. This time it'll cost ya.Nothing to watch, a hundred yen to play ."

"Kitsune..." growled Motoko.

"Alright! Alright! I was going to give it back to her anyway! Sheesh." Kitsune grumbled as she flipped the cards. "Sorry Kid. You should have gone with your first instinct."

"Can I try again?" Shinobu pleaded.

"Sure! But this time-" Motoko interrupted her.

"That's enough Kitsune. Shinobu, isn't getting a little late for you?"

"I wonder if sempai could figure this out?" Shinobu wondered aloud as she left the room. Kitsune chuckled at Shinobu's remark.

"I don't think Keitaro'd do any better than you."

"What couldn't I do?"Asked Ketiaro as he entered the living room.

"It's just a game we were playing." Her face took on a predatory grin. "Why don't you try? Unless Motoko has any problem with it."

"I don't like it, but he's old enough to get what he deserves. Now could you please be quiet? It's getting to a good part."

"All right then!" Kitsune flipped the two kings over and tapped on the queen. "Just find the lady, Keitaro." With that she flipped the last card over and she worked the cards into a hypnotic dance. Keitaro's mind barely managed to keep up.

"Middle!"

"Sorry. A hundred yen to play." Keitaro handed her a few coins. Kitsune turned the middle card over, and sure enough, it was the queen of spades. Kitsune grinned as she handed Keitaro his money, including the winnings back. She had him now. Hook, line, and sinker.

Tweny minutes and almost four thousand yen later...

"So, you still want to play?" inquired Kitsune.

"I don't have any money left!" responded Keitaro.

"I'm sure we can think of some _other_ method of payment." She licked her lips in anticipation.

"I don't know, its getting late."

"You're no fun. How about this: one more round, if I win; you get your money back and I get six months of rent free, if you win; you get your money and you'll uh...hm...What should you get?"

"I really don't think there's much else you could do for me." said Keitaro.Kitsune leaned forward in response to that statement, exposing a substantial view of her cleavage.

"Oh no? I can think of _a lot _I could do for you." purred the vixen. Keitaro blushed as he tried to focus on her face. He failed miserably.

"I don't really think that-that that would be appropriate." Ketiaro stammered. Sadly it came out louder than he was hoping.

"Shh! I'm still watching! Keep it down." Motoko demanded. Cracks appeared in her once-stoic visage with every word above a wisper.

"Isn't that thing over _yet_?"

"It's a very long marathon. Do you mind? They just found the leader behind the slave-exporting racket." Motoko's normally calm voice showed hints of irritation. Interrupting her during her samurai dramas usually ended in bloodshed.That didn't stop Kitsune's eyes from lighting up at her statement.

"That's not a bad idea! If you win I'll be your sla-er domestic servant."

"I don't think that's really necessary."

"You're no fun. Come on, how about it? What's wrong? Not man enough?"

"Hey!"

"I'm not surprised really. You'll never get into Todai with that attitude." Kitsune knew that remark was slightly below the belt, but at least it worked. Besides, she figured she was already being generous in giving his money back, so she was entitled to abuse him a little.

"Now wait a minute!"

"Does that mean you'll play?"

"Yes! I'll...Wait! I mean-"

"Too late, Keitaro. Follow the lady." Kitsune arranged and rearranged the cards, and then re-re-arranged them. In the middle though, came the most important part, the switch off. Then arrange and rearrange _ad nauseam._

"Follow the lady!" Kitsune squealed. It was a bit too loud for Motoko's taste.

"Shh! I said keep it down!"

"All right! Jeez..." Where was she? Oh, right the swtich off. Arrange, rearrange. _Ad nauseam._

"Hm...I pick...hm..." Ah, Ketiaro's infamous indescision. It didn't really matter how long he tried to puzzle out which was the lady. To Kitsune's reckoning, he always chose the middle card. She thought he should have learned by now.

"Take your time. Let me know when you're ready."

"Middle!"

"You've picked anything but middle. Are you sure?"

"Yes. No-Yes. Middle." Kitsune sighed. While she was pleased with her impending victory, Keitaro could have tried to be a little more imaginative.

"Sorry Keitaro. I guess that means that I get six months rent-free." she said as she flipped the center card.

"Uh...Kitsune?" Keitaro interrupted.

"Now, now. I know it's a hard thing to accept losing. But we had an agreement."

"That's not it really."

"Oh! Right. Your money. Take it. It's right there on the table."

"It's not that."

"Are you going to try to weasel out of this Keitaro?"

"No, but-"

"No 'buts,' I would have gone through with my end of the bargain if you won."

"But I _did_!"

"Huh?" Kitsune's eyes widened as she looked down at the table. Sure enough, staring right back at her from the center of the table, was the queen of hearts.

"Wasn't it also the queen of spades last time?" Keitaro remarked.

Kitsune gulped. This wasn't going to end well.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: See prologue

Kitsune's mind raced trying to come to terms with the situation. Not only had she lost a very humiliating bet, but she had also been caught in flagrante delecto with regards to her rampant cheating. While half of her brain puzzled out where she went wrong; the other half was preoccupied with trying to weasel out of her current predicament. Sadly, the former question had her stumped completely while the latter came up with the same two situations it always had: lying and launching counter-accusations. For those to have a hope and a prayer of working she'd have to get rid of the evidence first. Before the rational part of her brain could stop her, she had reached down, grabbed the small folding table and flipped it into the air.

Motoko Aoyama wasn't a big fan of television. She found most of what came through the 'boob-tube' to be crass, needlessly violent, perverse and painfully repetative. What few shows she did watch, she watched religiously. They were all, naturally, samurai slash-em-ups. This may have been seen by some as hypocritical, but most people loved life and limb too much to say anything to her about it.

Motoko leaned closer to the television as Mangoku's blade tore the slavers to ribbons. She was lucky too. The bigwigs owning the series had arranged for previously unaired episodes for one-time-only showings during the marathon. She faintly smiled as Mangoku finished off the last guard and sheathed his sword.

"Ayame, is your family safe?" The televised swordsman inquired to the lady who first requested his services.

"Yes, they made it out safely." replied the young woman."Mangoku, I-"

"Yes Ayame?" Upon hearing this, Motoko leaned even closer to the TV, potential damage to her eyesight be damned.

"I-I've always..."

_WHUNK_

A large flat object collided with the back of Motoko's head, propelling it into the TV screen. Slightly dazed, she checked herself for injuries. Thankfully they were light; a slight nosebleed and a painful throbbing in the back of her skull, but not much else. To her right lay the offending object.

_'A folding table? Where did that come-' _Her thoughts were interrupted by the cries of the guilty party.

"_You! You must have cheated! I don't know how, but you _must _have!_" Kitsune wailed as she fumbled through some playing cards. "_I _know_ I kept track of them properly, so how did you do it?_" Kitsune demanded from a bewildered Keitaro. Motoko might not know the exact details of what was going on, but even from the other side of the room she could see that the swindler had at least half a deck of cards stuffed up her sleave.

Motoko shook her head, partly in disappointment with her housemates and partly to clear out the nagging pain. She didn't have time for this. She glanced back at the tube only to find the ending credits rolling. Something within her snapped as the realization that she had missed a once in a lifetime opportunity. The kendo girl clenched her teeth in anger, wiped the blood from her nose and drew her sword.

"Come clean, Ketiaro! How'd you do it?" Kitsune shouted as she thrust an accusatory finger into Ketiaro's face.

The fox-woman's outburst was interrupted as she felt a slight brush along her forearm and felt the cards she had stashed therein fluttering to the ground. She glanced at her now-ruined sleeve.

"Hey! This thing was expenisve, you know!" said Kitsune as she turned towards Motoko. She froze. Like a snake, Motoko's wild-eyed glare fixed her in place. Kitsune could hardly breathe, let alone escape.

"Hey, there's the queen of spades! And you said _I _was chea-" Ketiaro was indignant until he to saw the enraged Aoyama. Although it was common to see Motoko angry, as of that moment she looked ready to kill someone.

"Motoko," Kitsune began after gathering up what little courage she had. "There's no need to resort to violence."

"That's right!" Ketiaro chimed in. The duo began taking a few baby steps backwards. "I'm sure we can come to a peaceful solution."

Motoko's grin sent shivers down their spines.

"Of course we can. Now, if you could have your servant get me a blank tape?"

Keitaro blinked in confusion. "My what?"

"Your new servant. That _was _what you were supposed to win, was it not?" Keitaro got her hint.

"Kitsune, I think you should do what she says."

"What? There's no way I'm gonaa-" Kitsune's words were cut short as Motoko leveled her blade at the Vixen's neck.

"You should refer to your master with more respect." Motoko demanded.

Kitsune nodded. "Yes, _master_. Right away, _master_." With that, the swordswoman sheathed her sword and the fox woman scrambled off in search for a tape.

Motoko turned to Ketiaro. "You don't have to be so gentle with her. She _was_ trying to cheat you, after all."

"I can't do that!" Keitaro protested. "Besides, what would I have her do?"

"I'm sure you could think of a few things." At the end of Motoko's statement, Keitaro eyes snapped wide open as his mind flooded with thoughts that; for the sake of the younger and more impressionable audience members, can't be stated here.

"I wasn't referring to _that_, pervert." Motoko muttered as Kitsune dashed back into the room. The swordswoman snatched the videotape without so much as a 'Thank you,' although much of her earlier rancor dissipated and she was left with mild irritation.

"Think about it though, if she did even a fourth of the chores around here you could probably get in enough studying time to pass your entrance exam this time."

Keitaro nodded in response to Motoko's reasoning. She was right. If he lost a fourth-hell, an eighth of his normal workload he would save at least an hour that could be spent studying. Some quick mental arithmetic later he figured he could save at least 173 hours if nothing else demanded his attention during those hours.

One-hundred-seventy-three hours saved- no, liberated from menial chores. Even though he knew he couldn't spend _all_ of it in cram sessions- as if anyone could!- it would still cause a massive hike in his grades. He continued mulling it over in his head for a few minutes.

Kitsune saw the look on Keitaro's face and knew that she'd lost. She began to stop thinking of ways to get out of this sorry situation, and began pondering ways of coping with it. Booze would help. Booze _always_ helped. She faced Motoko and prepared to ask her one last-ditch question.

"I don't suppose there's any way to talk you out of forcing me into this, is there?"

"Me? This was your doing if I recall corectly. Besides," Motoko tapped her sheath against Kitsune's stomach. "A little exercise would do you good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back before the commercial break is over. Please don't disturb me again." The duo nodded in response to Motoko's request, and trekked up the stairs to their rooms.

Kitsune spoke up in the second floor hallway.

"So Master..." Keitaro cringed upon hearing that.

"Don't call me that-and I'm not talking to you." He grumbled.

"And what are you so angry about? It's not like a sword-wielding maniac just appointed _you _somebody's slave." Kitsune inquired, poking him in the elbow for emphasis.

"You cheated." he replied flatly. Kitsune jaw went slack for a few moments.

"You're _angry _because I cheated? Keitaro, it was three-card monty! I'm surprised you couldn't figure it out on your own! You really shouldn't be so trusting with your money, you know!"

"Not everybody is like you." Keitaro wasn't convinced in the slightest.

"This is the thanks I get for trying to open your eyes to all the dishonest cheats in the world? Insults and distrust? I'm not a bad person, Keitaro!" Kitsune gripped her landlord by the collar and pleaded with him. "I'm not!" Kitsune began to tear up in frustration. Urashima's heart wracked with guilt at the sight.

"I'm sorry Kitsune. I didn't realize that..." his voice trailed off as the sobbing turned to chuckling.

"Gotcha." She said between chuckles.

"That wasn't nice."Keitaro blanched.

"Come on!" she pleaded. "It was a joke! Let's talk about something else, okay?"

Keitaro nodded in response. "Like what?"

"Well _master_, what do you want me to do for you? I'm serious this time." Kitsune asked. It would be a lot easier for her to procrastinate on her new chores if she knew what they were ahead of time.

"Well...I suppose that I am tired of getting beaten up for being in the bath at the wrong time. I guess it would be a lot less painful for you to do that."

Kitsune grimaced. She hadn't expected him to actually give her real _work_. Even if scrubbing the baths wasn't physically exerting, it was time-consuming. She linked her arm in his and snuggled up to him.

"Anything else I should know about? In addition to cleaning the bath and me not paying rent, I mean." she whispered into his ear while tracing circles in his chest.

"Wait, what? When did I agree to that?" Keitaro demanded.

"Well, for starters if I'm going to be spending all of my time here at Hinata-sou, I'll have to quit all my part-time jobs." Kitsune explained. "Besides, as your new errand girl it's your responsibility to provide for _all _my needs." she squeezed his arm to her chest.

"You mean alcohol, right?" Keitaro replied while trying to ignore what his arm was pressing up against.

"Well, that and some _other_ things..."

"I'm not buying you booze, Kitsune." the landlord insisted.

"_That's what _you_ think._"the vixen muttered under her breath.

"Huh?"

"Er, what else, do you think?"

"It'd be nice if nobody interrupted me while I was studying..." Keitaro answered. Kitsune pondered that. Unless Kaolla showed up, that should be fairly easy to accomplish with a minimum of effort. Still, she needed to make certain she didn't have anything else that cut into her free time.

"Aww, and here I was hoping you'd ask me to do something dirty!" She purred seductively, hoping it would get him off his guard.

Keitaro stammered for a few moments, paused, then furrowed his brows. "You're doing it again, aren't you?"

Kitsune grinned in response as she let go of him. "So you _can_ be taught! Heh, I'll make a natural out of you yet?"

"A natural what?" Keitaro didn't like the sound of that.

"You'll see. Good night,_ master_."

"Good night, Kitsune...and stop calling me that!"

Kitsune chuckled silently to herself. She had "plans" for the following morning.


	3. Chapter 3

"It's got to be in here!" Kitsune reassured herself. "I wouldn't have thrown something _that _expensive away!"

The fact that it was eight in the morning certainly didn't help. Kitsune normally woke up around noon _if _she was feeling energetic.

Assorted sounds of crashing and searching emanated from the "special" part of Kitsune's closet. Strewn about across the floor of her room were several of her more interesting outfits and various paraphernalia that couldn't be described without giving this fic a much higher age rating.

The commotion died down instantly as Kitsune recovered her prize. Kitsune grinned sinisterly. This would be worth it just for the look on Keitaro's face alone, never mind the booze money she was certain to get. As quietly as possible, she slipped into her outfit and out of her room and into her neighbor's. Slowly, she snuck towards her target.

Meanwhile, her mark was having the time of his life. Keitaro soared in the sky like a bird, spinning, weaving and loop-de-looping his way through the clouds. It was all a dream of course, but like most dreamers Keitaro had no way of knowing that. Even as a dream it was a welcome change from dreams about Todai.

Without any warning, a massive weight latched onto Keitaro's stomach. Encumbered, Kei began to stall. Lift abandoned him and drag settled in, pulling his heavy carcass towards a particularly hard patch of ground.

"Up!" attached mass shouted.

"How?" Keitaro begged. The ground was getting uncomfortably close.

"Just get up!" Shouted the weight as it gripped his collar and started shaking.

"How?" Keitaro demanded again, hoping to get a quick answer.

It was too late. He slammed into the ground. Instead hearing of a sickening splat, he heard a slight thump

"Are you awake yet?" A voice demanded curtly. Funny, it didn't sound like Su

"Huh? Whozat?" Keitaro mumbled. His eyes creaked open slightly; only to be greeted by the sight of Kitsune straddling his stomach. His eyes snapped open as he noticed precisely what she was wearing.

Kitsune had somehow obtained a French maid's outfit. Keitaro couldn't have stopped his eyes from wandering over the bundle of black lace if he wanted to. While the ensemble didn't reveal terribly _much _skin, it certainly revealed quite a bit of the more dangerous zones.  
"Keitaro…" Kitsune purred in the sexiest voice she could manage. Keitaro couldn't respond.  
"I wanted to talk to you about certain 'expenses' that might creep up."

"I-er…what?" Keitaro murmured. As much as he was enjoying the spectacle; logical thought surfaced and he couldn't let any other residents see them in this situation. Or worse, he could let things take their course and open up a bigger can of worms.

"Well, a new liquor store just opened, and I was hoping-"

"Yes!" Keitaro responded "Yes. I'll get whatever you need."

"That was too easy." Kitsune grumbled. "What's wrong, don't you like the costume?"

"No!" Keitaro replied quickly as he screwed his eyes shut. "It's-uh…It looks good on you. It's just that…well-"

Kitsune grinned. Seeing him get flustered like this was always good for the ego.

"Alright, I'll go change. This outfit is kinda itchy anyway."

"Uh, when you get back could you do something for me?"

"Of course. What is it?"

"Well, I was wondering if you could check on Naru and see if she's ready for our early studying session."

"Is that all? Heck, I can do that right now." announced Kitsune as she stepped onto Keitaro's desk and reached for the ceiling.

"Kitsune! Wait!"

Naru disrobed as fast as humanly possible. Speed-changing was a skill that Narusegawa had only recently acquired. Of course, she hadn't needed it before that pervert showed up.

To be honest it was downright creepy. Keitaro always seemed to show up the moment one of the residents so much as undid a button. Well, okay. It wasn't that bad, but it certainly felt like it. Even though Naru and Motoko had both become experts at quick-changing and dishing out "divine punishment" as Motoko called it; these little "incidents" continued to occur with alarming regularity.  
Not so today. Every day since she'd begun tutoring him, that slime had intruded into her room at eight-thirty to 'remind' her of their session and sneak a peek of her in her underwear or less. This time she would be ready, and the moment that pervert stuck his nose into her room; she'd break it. Then she'd knee the bastard in the groin…

…wait. That'd mean she'd have to touch him there.

On second thought, she'd knee him in the stomach. Then she'd cut his tongue out, then-  
Naru's train of thought was interrupted by a sudden knocking.

"Hey, Naru!"  
"Pervert!"

"Wait! No! It's me!" pleaded the trespasser.

Narusegawa Ignored both her long list of torture and the intruder's plea. Her body leapt into action, the redhead's heel colliding with the offender's skull, plowing him into the room below.

"What did I tell you about barging into people's rooms?" She scolded.

"Kitsune! Are you okay? Say something!" came the cry from downstairs.

Naru's eyes widened. As she thought about it, that skull had been a bit too soft to be Keitaro's.

(Author-y type crap.)

First off a big :Thank you" for everyone who took the time to review.

RAW 19, Avis de Rapina Sci-Fi Raptor, Shinji the good sharer, Hunter-Killer360, JakinbandW: Thank you for your comments

Nysk, NefCanuck: Thank you for your comments, I'm not certain where all this is going to lead. I didn't have an overarching plot when I started writing this. (Big mistake, I know)

Ruto Kuntai: Er...thank you for your generous rating. I certainly don't think it's anywhere as good as that, but thank you.

Kalis-Nin, Wonderbee31: To answer your question, yes. It will be Kei/Kit. Thank you for you comments.

Hatchet 007: Thank you very much for you suggestions. I'll try to keep them in mind.

Moon-cursed soul: Thank you for giving it a chance. I'm sorry about the typos. If I get enough free time on my hands, I'll go back and fix them.

Shinobufan175: Truth be told, I'm not much for the maid-costume thing. Thank you for telling me about the age rating and about the lack of transitions. I hope I fixed that a little with the rewrite. If not, well then I'll just have to try again.


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